Amarillo voters may find amendments to the City Charter on their ballots this November.

During their April 9th meeting, Amarillo City Council directed staff to take steps ahead of such an election. Items including finding a consultant and setting the structure for the process are set to be brought to the council during the next council meeting, scheduled for April 23rd. After that, the council is eyeing appointing a citizen committee to study the charter and suggest changes during their first May council meeting.

In 1913, Amarillo became one of the first cities in Texas to adopt a charter. All amendments require an election, with the most recent amendment passing in 2020, when citizens approved a proposal to move to only two council meetings a month.

If the city moves forward with calling an election, it will likely be held in November, with the deadline to call the election is August 19th. If an election is not held by then, the next opportunity to call a charter amendment election would be next May, on the same ballot as the upcoming city council election.

During their April 9th meeting, the council briefly discussed several potential charges, including staggering council terms, increasing the length of council terms, and implementing single-member districts, though the council didn't express an opinion on moving forward with any of these potential changes.

Councilman Josh Craft expressed some concern with moving forward, citing the fact that the city is currently searching for a new City Manager. His concerns largely seemed assuaged by the decision to use a citizen-led process.

Councilman Tom Scherlen, by contrast, was enthusiastic about moving forward. “Let’s stop talking about it, let’s just do it,” said Scherlen. Councilman Les Simpson echoed Scherlen’s position and noted that Dallas has a policy to review their charter on a regular basis.

While the council did not discuss their personal positions on any proposed amendments during the meeting, we recently published a story recapping their positions on two proposals from our 2023 voter guide. That story can be found at this link.